Hair drier



y 5, 1941- M. w. PITNER HAIR DRIER Filed May 29, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 M. W. PITNER May 6, 1941.

HAIR DRIER Filed May 29, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 M. w. PITNER May 6,1941.

HAIR DRIER Filed May 29, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 6, 1941 o its rss their issues HAIR DRIER Marion W. Pitner, Chicago, 111., assignor to Fred-- ucts Development, Inc, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application May 29, 1937, Serial No. 145,503

5 Claims. (Cl. 34-160) cated within a drying chamber in the hair drier.

Beauticians commonly treat the hair on human heads with a viscous liquid composed principally of water'and a gum in solution therewith. The

hair is then fashioned and embellished and final- 1 1y dried with a hair drier. As the water is vaporized and removed by the air, the gum solidifies on the hair and fixes the embellishment of the coiffure.

The present invention is embodied in 'a hair i drier of the type which comprises an inner hood, an outer hood, a fan, an air heating element, and the necessary electrical equipment for driving the fan and supplying current to the air heating element. The inner hood is generally hemispherical in shape and has one or more air outlet apertures usually in its polar region and a plurality of air inlet apertures distributed over the remainder thereof.

connected along their equatorial edges, but are spaced apart elsewhere to provide an air distribution chamber between the two hoods. The

central region of the space within the inner hood is the drying chamber in which the hairy part of the human head is located while being dried, and the remainder of the space within the inner hood is a passageway for spent air. The inner hood is necessarily larger than the human head,

and part of the space therein between the head and the inner hood provides the passageway through which the spent air is drawn off and returned to the fan.

In the preferred form of the invention, it is applied to that type of construction in which the fan is located in an air acceleration chamber located within the outer hood and back of the inner hood. The air acceleration chamber is in open communication with the air distribution chamber adjacent the path of the tips of the fan blades.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide a hair drier that shall be capable of drying the hair on the average human head in minimum time, with maximum comfort for The outer hood substantially encompasses the inner hood, and the two hoods are human head while that part of the head is 10- i the fan with a whirling motion along the shortest possible path through the air distribution chamber and into the interior of the inner hood.

It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide a hair drier which is adapted to produce and apply substantially columnar streams of air to the hairy part of a human head, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the head.

t is also an object of the present invention to provide a hair drier having a drying chamber and a spent air passageway within an inner hood, and an air distribution chamber separated therefrom by the inner hood, the inner hood having a plurality of nozzles projecting radially inward through said passageway to the drying chamber, said passageway being the space within the inner hood between the nozzles and between the inner surface of the inner hood and the zone of the inner ends of the nozzles.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a hair drier having a spent air passageway, nozzles passing through said passageway and means for maintaining a reduced atmospheric pressure in said passageway whereby the spent air is rawn back to the fan without interfering with the streams of air issuing from the nozzles.

An important object of the invention is the provision of a hair drier adapted to direct spaced columnar streams of air towards the hairy part of the head in a direction perpendicular to the head to cause the air to penetrate the hair to the skin and at the same time to withdraw the air from the hair by maintaining a partial vacuum on the surface of the hair between the spots where the columns of air strike the head.

It is also a purpose of the present invention to provide a hair drier of the type described in which nozzles projecting radially inward, through said passageway to the drying chamber ar so constructed as to offer minimum resistance to the flow of air and to obviate danger of injury to the human head by engagement with the nozzles. The present invention contemplates the provision of a hair-drier in which the air enters the drying chamber through nozzles of relatively great length and capable of producing columnar streams of air, the nozzles terminating relatively close to the hair and being composed of soft material which, if engaged by the human head, will not cause any damage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hair drier of the type described with air heating means so arranged as to transfer the heat to drawings wherein a preferred form of the invention is shown. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings and description are illus-'- V j trative only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention except in so far as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view' taken substantially 0n the line l-I of Fig. 2, illustrating a hair drier embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the hair drier looking into the open end of the drying chamber;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a View in side elevation of a heating element chamber and deflector unit utilized in the invention;

Fig. 5 is a small sectional View taken longitudinally through a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view through V a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a side view partly in section taken substantially on the line 71 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8' is a fragmentary perspective View illustrating the tubular air deflectors used in the form of device shown in Fig. 6.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the present invention is embodied in a hair drier which is housed in an outer hood Ill. The outer hood H] is made up of a cylindrical section II and a back section I'Z. The back section 12 is covered by a housing I3 which also encloses a motor M. The sections II and I2 of the outer hood NJ are secured together by flanges l5 and screws l6 and H. A band I8 is clamped around the outer hood ID to cover the heads of the screws l6 and I1 and to provide a neat finish. The cylindrical portion H is turned inward at its open end l9, and the inturned edge is covered by a rubber ring 20.

An inner hood 2! is substantially hemispherical and is seated within the outer hood I0 and has its open end 22 supported by the inturned end l9. The end 22 actually engages within a flange 23 of the rubber ring 20 so as to secure the rubber ring 20 in place when the inner hood 2| is clamped against the inturned end IS. The inner hood 2! is connected with the cylindrical part II of the outer hood by brackets 24 fastened to the part I l as by spot welding, brackets 2'5 similarly fastened .to the hood 2|, and screws 26 connecting the two brackets. The inner hood 2| is spaced from the outer hood except at its open end 22 so as to provide an air distribution chamber 21 between the two hoods. Thecentral region of the inner hood is a drying chamber 28 which is adapted to receive the hairy part of a human head.

The inner hood has a plurality of apertures 29, and each aperture has mounted therein a nozzle 3!]. As shown best at the lower left hand corner of Fig. 1, each nozzle is composed of a relatively soft rubber and is provided with a neck at 3| which is adapted to be seated in one of the apertures 29 to secure the nozzle in place. The nozzle 39 has the opening '32 therethrough gradually decreasing in diameter to the discharge end at 33. The thickness of the nozzle material also gradually decreases toward the discharge end. Since the nozzles themselves are made of rubber which is relatively soft, the free ends of these nozzles are sufiiciently soft to avoid damage when they engage a human head inserted in the drying chamber 28. The space between the discharge ends 33 of the nozzles and the inner wall of the inner hood 2| constitutes a spent air passageway 34 through which air discharged from the nozzles 33 may be withdrawn through an opening at 35 in back of the inner hood 2i.

The nozzles themselves are so shaped as to offer a minimum resistance to the passage of air through them and to produce a penetrating columnar stream of air rather than a spray or mushroom type of air jet. The nozzles are so spaced on the inner hood 2| as to direct the columnar streams of air into the hair at spaced points over the entire hairy portion of the head. The free ends of the nozzles are desirably spaced as close to the head as they can be without disturbing the hair. The columnar streams of air, since they are directed straight into the hair at substantially right angles to the head surface,

penetrate to the skin and spread outwardly to be drawn out of the hair by the reduced pressure maintained in the spent air passageway 34. The arrangement of the nozzles is such that, as shown best in Fig. 2, the lower part of the drier, which is adapted to receive the back of the human head, has the nozzles very closely spaced as compared to the spacing at the top of the hood. The liquid applied to the hair has a tendency to run down to the back of the head, and the hair is usually heavy at this pointalso. I, therefore, arrange the nozzles so as to provide the greatest amount of air at this point. As shown, there are six rather closely spaced nozzles 30 in the front row at the bottom of the hood shown in Fig. 2', while at the sides there are two nozzles in the front row, and at the top two rather widely spaced nozzles are provided in the front row. The exact number of nozzles and their arrangement may be varied over a wide range.

The air distribution chamber 2'1'and the drying chamber 28 are connected by an air acceleration chamber 36 which houses a fan 31 and a heating unit 38 for supplying heat to the air being circulated. The central opening 35 in the polar region of the inner hood 2| leads to a screen 39, and air passes through the screen up into the center of the air acceleration chamber 36.

The fan 37 has the blades shaped, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to force the air outwardly and downwardly into the air distribution .chamber 21. The motor l4 drives the fan 31 and is provided with openings at 40 and 4| whereby air is drawn through the motor. The air which is drawn through the motor is drawn into the housing 13 through openings 42 provided in the back of the housing l3, and this air is caused to pass through the motor and be drawn out at 4| by the fan 31. The lower nozzles 30 discharge some of their air outwardly at the bottom or open end of thehood so that there is a gradual replacement of the air circulating in the drier. This prevents the air from becoming saturated with moisture and ineffective for drying. 7 p

The heating unit/38 is supported upon the screen plate 39, and comprises a series of heating coils 43 arranged upon suit-able insulating supports 44. The heating coils 43 are covered by a. smooth curved annular top Plate 45 which lies close to the tops of the coils E3 and receives much of the heat from the coils. Thus the air passing through the acceleration chamber is heated by contact with the top plate 45, by conduction since it is brought into contact with the top plate while it is being accelerated. The top plate 45 telescopes with and is mounted upon a mounting ring 46 which is spaced from the screen plate 39 and secured thereto in spaced relation by a plurality of bosses such as 41, 4B and 49, these bosses being struck up from the plate 39 and the ring 46 and spot welded together. I

Some of the air passing upwardly through the opening 35 circulates out between the ring 45 and the plate 39, and passes'up beneath the top plate 45 over the coils 43 so as to prevent excess temperatures of the coils. This small amount of air is discharged up into the air acceleration chamber at the inner edge of the plate 45 and at a very high temperature. However, it is quickly mixed with the other air in the acceleration chamber so that, by the time it is passed through the air distribution chamber and the nozzles 30, the temperature of the air is substantially uniform throughout. It will be noted that the ring 46 fits closely around the opening 35 so as to prevent loss of pressure in the air distribution chamber. The ring 46 is spot welded to a plurality of curved bafi'les so which curved baffles are arranged around the inner wall of the cylindrical part ll of the outer hood. These curved bafiles also carry the brackets l by which the parts H and [2 of the outer hood are secured together.

The air is driven through the air acceleration chamber 36 and accelerated by the fan 31. The fan gives the air a whirling motion as it passes outwardly through the air acceleration chamber. As the air passes beyond the path of the tips of the fan blades, it strikes the baffles 50 which are curved to immediately deflect the air to a downward direction parallel to the axis of the drier. By putting more or less curvature in the baffles, they. can be so perfectly balanced that the air will not take a circular or spiral path in either direction in the air distribution chamber 21, but will be forced lengthwise thereof, (and the kinetic energy stored in the fast moving air will be largely converted into static pressure with very little velocity. The air after being directed'downwardly in the air distribution chamber naturally flows in whatever direction it is guided. It, therefore, flows straight through the nozzles 30 and is discharged in columnar streams directly into the hair. This is very important since the streams of air, if directed obliquely with respect to the surface of the hair does not penetrate the hair well and hence does not produce the rapid drying desired.

Since the inner ends of the nozzles are placed very close to the hair and the spent air passage 34 is made large enough so that the air mushrooming back from the skin can pass through the spent air passageway without having to cross the columnar streams, it is possible to create a substantial difference in pressure between the columnar streams where they strike the head and the spent air passageway. This causes a rapid flow of the air through the hair and a more eifective drying action. Some air will be drawn into the spent air passageway between the nozzles at the open end of the inner hood 2 I. This air, together with that which is drawn in through the motor, provides sufficient fresh air to prevent the recirculating air, from becoming too nearly saturated to dry well. At the back of the inner hood 21, three of the nozzles 33a are mounted upon tubes 5| which tubes pass through the portion 46a of the ring 46 that extends downwardly around the opening 35. These nozzles apply columnar streams of air to that portion of the hair opposite the opening 35.

Referring now to Fig. 5, this figure illustrates a modified form of the invention in which an outer hood E311 and an innerhood Zia are provided. In this form of the invention, however, air is received through an outer tubular passage 52 from any suitable source of heated air and is drawn off through an inner passage 53. Such a device is utilized where the fan and heating means are remote from the hair drier. Nozzles b are employed in this form of the invention. These nozzles are substantially duplicates of the nozzles 3|].

Referring now to Figs. 6 to 8, a further form of the invention is shown. In this form of the invention, an outer hood lilb and an inner hood 2lb are provided, and an air distribution space 27b is provided between the two hoods. The inner hood 2th is provided with an opening 351) in its polar region which opening leads to an air acceleration chamber 36b through a screen 3%. A fan 31b is located within the chamber 352) and is driven by a motor l ib. In this form of the invention, a heating unit 38b is mounted beneath a top plate b and comprises heating coils 43b.

Air is directed from the outer ends of the blades of the fan 312) into a plurality of nested tubes 5 which tubes are arranged with their inlet ends abutting the outlet from the air acceleration chamber 362). These tubes extend downwardly through the chamber 27b and are curved around the inner hood Zlb and extended through the inner hood 2 lb to the drying chamber. Suitable rubber nozzles 55 are provided on the inner ends of the tubes 54 so as to direct air in columnar streams into the hair of a human head placed within the drying chamber 28b.

The spent air passageway in this form of the invention constitutes the space between the inner hood 24b and the inner ends of the nozzles 55. It will be noted that thisspace expands in cross section toward the back of the inner hood 2Ib due to the fact that the tubes 54 extend further from the inner hood Zlb towards the back of the hood. A slightly modified form of air circulating means around the motor Mb is shown in this form. A cup 5-6 surrounds the motor 142) and is open at its top. Blocks 5? support the motor Mb above the back of the cup 56, and the cup has an opening 58 in the bottom which is aligned with an opening 59 in the back portion Nb of the hood lilb.

In both forms of the invention shown in Fig. 1 to 4 and Figs. 6 to 8, the air which is forced outwardly in the air acceleration chamber, is directed through the air distribution chamber in such a fashion as to cause it to take the shortest path to the nozzles that direct the air in columnar streams into the hair. The air is given a whirling motion and a high velocity by the fan as it passes through the air acceleration chamber, and, unless prevented from doing so, it takes a spiral course through the air distribution chamber, the air inlet apertures, and the drying chamber back to the air acceleration chamber.

By the use of the air directing means in the air distribution chamber, so as to cause the air to take a short direct path to the inlet apertures of the inner hood, and by utilizing the inwardly extending nozzles for directing the air in columnar streams perpendicular to the head, I avoid the losses in efiiciency that are due to the great length of travel of the air when it is permitted to continue with the whirling motion givento it by the fan.

I have found that, where a stream of air is issuing from an orifice towards the hairy part of a human head, the closer the orifice is placed the presence of the spent air between the orifices and the hair, and the reduction would be still greater on account of the spent air being in motion in a direction more or less perpendicular to the direction of the streams. By providing the spent air passageway between the inner hood and the inner ends of the nozzles, between the nozzles I reduce the loss in efliciency due to this factor to a minimum.

From the above description, it is believed that the construction and operation of the present device will be clear to those skilled in this art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A hair drier having an air accelerat on chamber, a spent airpassageway, and a drying chamber, a plurality of nozzles projecting radially inward through said passageway to said drying chamber, said air acceleration chamber being in communication with the passageway whereby the spent air passes from said passageway to said acceleration chamber, a fan in said air acceleration chamber, and tubes leading from the acceleration chamber to said nozzles.

2. A hair drier comprising an outer hood, an inner hood, and a drying chamber adapted to receive the hairy part of a human head, and means within said inner hood for producing and applying substantially columnar streams of air to a head located within said drying chamber in a direction substantially perpendicular to said head, comprising resilient nozzles projecting radially inward to the drying chamber, said nozzles being provided with neck portions and said inner hood having apertures adapted to receive said neck portions.

3. A hair drier, a fan housing having air inlets therein and having front and rear walls spaced apart to provide an air accelerating chamber therebetween, a fan in said chamber, and means for rotating said fan, and curved baflies projecting into said acceleration chamber adjacent the path of the periphery of the fan adapted to deflect the air from said fan to a direction substantially parallel to the axis of the fan a heater adjacent the front wall of said fan housing, an outer hood and an inner hood, said inner hood having air inlet apertures therein whereby to discharge air under pressure against the hairy part of the human head located within said inner hood.

4. In a hair drier, an outer hood, an inner substantially hemispherical hood having air inlet and air outlet apertures therein, said hoods being joined at the open end of said inner hood and spaced from each other back of said open end to provide an air circulation path, an air acceleration chamber in said path back of the inner hood, air accelerating means in said chamber, and a heater back of the inner hood and within the air circulation path, said heater comprising an annular heating chamber having heating coils therein and having a wall covering said heating coils, said wall also separating said acceleration chamber from said coils and forming a wall of said air acceleration chamber and transmitting heat directly to the air therein.

5. In a hair drier, an outer hood, an inner substantially hemispherical hood having air inlet and air outlet apertures therein, said hoods being joined at the open end of said inner hood and spaced from each other back of said open end to provide an air circulation path, an air acceleration chamber in said path back of the inner hood, air accelerating means in said chamber, and a heater back of the inner hood and within the air circulation path, said heater comprising an annular heating chamber having heating coils therein and having a wall covering said heating coils, said wall also separating said acceleration chamber from said coils and forming a wall of said air acceleration chamber and transmitting heat directly to the air therein, and means for by-passing a portion of the air from the inner hood through the heating chamber before it reaches the air accelerating means.

MARION W. PITNER. 

